PRO NITROUS<\/strong><\/p>\n Former Pro Nitrous world champions Marcus Butner and Tommy Franklin continued their season-long battle for the 2026 season points championship on Friday night, trading blows that will carry on into Sunday. With wins in each of the last two events, Butner is currently in the driver\u2019s seat, but couldn\u2019t afford to slip up in the opening round.\u00a0<\/p>\n Butner took the first-round win in spectacular fashion, creating his own fireworks display while grenading the motor in his Pat Musi-powered \u201cHeartbreaker\u201d \u201969 Camaro. Despite the issues, Butner ran a 3.655 at 205.32 mph to defeat Chris Rini, who kept it close with a 3.681 at 205.26 in his ATI Performance Products \u201969 Camaro. Butner, who has fought issues with his car all weekend, said after the win that he is now down to his last motor headed into Sunday\u2019s quarterfinal matchup with Billy Albert.<\/p>\n Franklin, meanwhile, set low E.T. of the first round with a 3.628 at 207.98 mph in his Musi-powered \u201cJungle Rat 3.0\u201d \u201969 Camaro to get around John Vergotz and his 3.730 at 200.29. Franklin will face Dale Brinsfield in round two.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n First-round results<\/strong>: Tim Paap 3.638, def. Tony Wilson 4.989; Tim Molnar 3.713, def. Ed Wilson (broke); Tommy Franklin 3.628, def. John Vergotz 3.730; Dale Brinsfield 3.668, def. Buddy Perkinson 3.731; John Vergotz Jr. 4.349, def. Amber Denton 4.526; Freddy Scriba 3.647, def. Dane Wood 5.667; Billy Albert 3.646, def. Brian Teachman 9.086; Marcus Butner 3.655, def. Chris Rini 3.681<\/p>\n PRO BOOST<\/strong><\/p>\n Going into Saturday night\u2019s eliminations, it looked like a potential titanic matchup could be brewing for Sunday\u2019s second round. If points leader Johnny Camp and second-place Jason Harris both won their round one pairing, they would face each other in the quarterfinals with the season points championship on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n Harris was up first and held up his end of the deal in his Harts Charger-equipped \u201cParty Time\u201d \u201969 Camaro, using a 3.573 at 211.46 mph to defeat former PDRA Pro Street world champion Ethan Steding, who went -.023 red before running a 3.584 at 210.54 in his screw-blown P2 Contracting \u201969 Camaro.<\/p>\n In the very next pair down the track, Camp would face rising Pro Mod star Carson Perry. Camp grabbed a slight advantage off the line in his ProCharger-powered \u201cHell\u2019s Bells\u201d \u201969 Camaro and looked like he would take the win until issues forced him to click it off early to a 4.512 at only 109.72 mph. Perry would power by for the win with a 3.599 at 208.39 in the\u00a0Harts Charger-boosted Redd Topp Motorsports C7 Corvette owned by Vaughn Myles and Eric Holland.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Coming out of the No. 1 position, reigning Pro Boost world champion Ty Tutterow attempted to keep his slim repeat hopes alive in Justin Smith\u2019s screw-blown Quik Fuel \u201968 Camaro, racing to a 3.561 at 210.44 mph for the win over Mike Decker Jr., who went -.131 red in his screw-blown Decker\u2019s Auto Salvage \u201924 Camaro.\u00a0<\/p>\n First-round results<\/strong>: Ty Tutterow 3.561, def. Mike Decker Jr. 3.600 (-.131 red); Mike Decker III 3.614, def. Greg Blevins Jr. 3.610 (-.004 red); Carson Perry 3.599, def. Johnny Camp 4.512; Jason Harris 3.573, def. Ethan Steding 3.584 (-.023 red); Randy Weatherford 3.576, def. Raymond Matos 3.608; Joel Wensley 3.586, def. Brylon Holder 3.574 (-.006 red); Fletcher Cox 3.565, def. Scott Lang 3.630; Travis Harvey 3.557, def. Blake Housley 3.625<\/p>\n PRO STREET<\/strong><\/p>\n An incredible six different drivers entered Saturday night\u2019s opening round of eliminations with a mathematical shot at winning the PDRA Pro Street points championship. By the end of the night, that number was down to four: Blake Denton, Richard Reagan, Joel Wensley Jr., and Jerry Morgano. In an interesting turn of events, none of those four drivers will face each other in round two.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Wensley Jr., who came into the race third in points, easily had the most dramatic first-round victory out of all the championship contenders, as his car failed to start under the tower while fellow championship hopeful Ron Green wheeled his screw-blown \u201cGamechanger\u201d \u201900 Firebird into the water box. With a mere five seconds remaining on the two-minute clock, Wensley Jr. finally got his ProCharger-powered \u201914 Camaro fired up, then proceeded to clock an impressive 3.907 elapsed time at 198.38 mph to outrun Green\u2019s 3.950 at 204.88.\u00a0<\/p>\n Points leader\u00a0Denton\u00a0drove his Pat Musi-powered,\u00a0nitrous-assisted \u201cBonnie\u201d \u201969 Camaro\u00a0to a 3.930 at 194.41 to defeat John Carinci\u2019s 4.017 at 204.14.\u00a0Reagan, sitting just over 100 points behind Denton, powered his\u00a0screw-blown Reagan\u2019s Excavating \u201990 Mustang\u00a0to a 3.951 at 193.90 to outrun J.R. Webb\u2019s 4.018 at 187.50. No. 1 qualifier Jerry Morgano may be a championship long shot, but made the most of it with a 3.883 \u2013 the quickest pass of the weekend \u2013 at 204.48 mph to get by Graham Hayes and his 4.185 at 187.73.<\/p>\n First-round results<\/strong>: Jerry Morgano\u00a03.883, def. Graham Hayes 4.185; Mikey Sasina 3.949, def. Bill Riddle 3.964; Joel Wensley Jr. 3.907, def. Ron Green 3.950; Tim Essick 3.944, def. Scott Kincaid 4.009; Richard Reagan 3.951, def. J.R. Webb 4.018; Andy Mac 3.905, def. Tim Lyons 4.565; Blake Denton 3.930, def. John Carinci 4.017; Derrick Brown\u00a03.987, def. Roger Holder 4.384<\/p>\n PRO 632<\/strong><\/p>\n J.C. Beattie Jr. completed his march to his first career Pro 632 championship on Saturday by virtue of his first-round victory. Racing out of the No. 1 qualifying position, Beattie Jr. ran a 4.126-second elapsed time at 173.70 mph in his nitrous-fed ATI Performance Products \u201918 Camaro to defeat Corey Terry, who slowed to a 5.000 at 135.25. With the win, Beattie Jr. became the first driver in any of the professional classes to secure a 2026 points championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although Jeff Pittman, sitting second in points, was mathematically eliminated from championship contention, he can still finish the season strong with another event win in his Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales \u201968 Chevelle. He used a 4.123 at 171.82 mph in the first round to get the win over Ryan Altman, Thursday night\u2019s ProStars winner, who went 4.153 at 172.10.\u00a0<\/p>\n First-round results<\/strong>: J.C. Beattie Jr. 4.126, def. Corey Terry 5.000; Carson Hoyle 4.137, def. Gary Hood 4.450; David Cook Jr. 4.183, def. Doug Nicholl 4.313; Jeff Pittman 4.123, def. Ryan Altman 4.153; Jason Ventura (took the tree), def. Cameron Gibson (broke)\u00a0<\/p>\n SUPER STREET\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Young gun Austin Vincent is on the verge of his first career Super Street world championship after securing a first-round win over Frank Saffelle III. After qualifying second, Vincent used a 4.517 at 162.08 mph in his Vincent Performance \u201988 Mustang to outrun Saffelle\u2019s 4.722 at 150.95 in his \u201986 Monte Carlo. Vincent will face 2024 Super Street world champion Dan Whetstine in the quarterfinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reigning Super Street champion Connor McGee still has a slight chance at a repeat title, but he will need to win the event while also setting a new e.t. record \u2013 which he currently holds at 4.484 seconds \u2013 as well as have Vincent go out in round two. McGee piloted his Fulton-powered Brian\u2019s Heating & Cooling \u201990 Mustang to a 4.501-second pass at 159.72 mph for the round one win over Richie Stine, who went 4.788 at 149.03. McGee will have a bye in the quarterfinals. \u00a0<\/p>\n First-round results<\/strong>: Connor McGee 4.501, def. Richie Stine 4.788; Brooks McMath 4.555, def. Matt Schalow 4.548; Charles Potter 4.535, def. Nick Robinson 4.708; Austin Vincent 4.517, def. Frank Saffelle III 4.722; Dan Whetstine 4.727, def. Blake Molnar 4.672; Troy Hill 4.557, def. Jessie Coulter 4.837; Mike Freeman 4.667, def. Kenny Fox 4.841\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP SPORTSMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n MagnaFuel Top Sportsman points leader Joe Roubicek clinched the 2026 points championship during the first round of eliminations on Saturday afternoon when Dave Muller fell to Wayne Patton. Roubicek also suffered a first-round defeat to Brandon Bachmeier, but Muller\u2019s loss earlier in the round clinched the title for Roubicek, who is now a two-time Top Sportsman champion.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP DRAGSTER\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe Gary clinched the 2026 season championship in ATI Performance Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes with his round one win over Randy Midgett combined with Chad Traylor\u2019s first-round loss. It is Gary\u2019s first career world championship with PDRA.<\/p>\n Sunday eliminations will begin with Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams at 10:30 a.m. followed by the Jr. Dragster and sportsman classes. Pro eliminations will continue at 1:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through\u00a0www.FloRacing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story was originally published on September 20, 2026. The post Championship Contenders Go to Battle in Virginia During Opening Round of Eliminations at PDRA World Finals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saturday\u2019s final qualifying session and opening round of eliminations at the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series\u2019 Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger brought clarity to a few championship battles at Virginia Motorsports Park, while simultaneously building suspense for others heading into Sunday\u2019s final eliminations.\u00a0 J.C. Beattie Jr. locked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Butner.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Harris.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Wensley-Jr.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Beattie-Jr.-.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Vincent.jpg\")
![\"Drag](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DI_flat_red-e1711481551475.png\")
<\/p>\n